Sikhs India - Online Sikh News Channel

Operation Blue Star, 27 years on

It was on this day 27 years ago that Operation Blue Star flushed out Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his separatist followers from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

Bhindranwale was using the shrine as a refuge and had piled up weapons for use in hate crimes against non-Sikhs.

But to this day the scars of 1984 are visible. The siege on the temple lasted three days and claimed many innocent lives. Though the operation was the brainchild of prime minister Indira Gandhi, she later regretted it. The military action led to her assignation two months after Operation Blue Star.

Yahoo! India News brings you pages from a violent chapter.

What was Operation Blue Star?

It was a military raid ordered by Indira Gandhi to eliminate separatists who had taken cover in the holiest of Sikh shrines. The operation spanned four days, between June 3 and 6, and was carried out by the Indian Army which laid siege to the temple complex with tanks and armoured vehicles.

The then Vice-Chief of Indian Army SK Sinha was first asked to lead the operation, but he advised against it saying it this would hurt Sikh sentiments. Indira Gandhi replaced him with Lt Gen A S Vaidya, who along with Lt Gen K Sundarji then planned the operation.

The operation kicked-off with a 36-hour curfew on June 3. All communication was suspended in Punjab, cutting off the state from the rest of the world.

The assault on the temple and the timing of it came in for heavy criticism as heavy artillery was used in the congested by lanes of Amritsar which lead to the death of many innocent bystanders. There was a huge uproar in the Sikh community worldwide, which was followed by hate crimes on Sikhs in parts of India.

with thanks : Yahoo News : link above for detailed news.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Sarna ji's meeting with UPA President Mrs.Sonia Gandhi

ਦੁਨਿਆਂ ਭਰ ਦੇ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਮੰਗ ਦੇ ਮਦਦੇਨਜਰ ਹਜਾਰਾਂ ਦੀ ਤਾਦਾਦ ਵਿਚ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਸਿੱਖ ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ਪ੍ਰਬੰਧਕ ਕਮੇਟੀ ਦੇ ਪ੍ਰਧਾਨ ਪਰਮਜੀਤ ਸਿੰਘ ਸਰਨਾ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਯੂ.ਪੀ.ਏ. ਦੀ ਚੀਫ ਸ਼ੀਮਤੀ ਸੋਨਿਯਾ ਗਾਂਧੀ ਨਾਲ ਮੁਲਾਕਾਤ ਕਰ ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਦਵਿੰਦਰਪਾਲ... ਸਿੰਘ ਭੁੱਲਰ ਨਾਲ ਹੋ ਰਹੀ ਬੇਇਨਸਾਫੀ ਤੇ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਭਾਵਨਾਵਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਅਵਗਤ ਕਰਾਯਾ। ਇਸ ਮੀਟਿਂਗ ਵਿੱਚ ਸਰਨਾ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਨਾਲ ਵਿਸ਼ੇਸ਼ ਰੂਪ ਤੇ ਦਿੱਲੀ ਦੀ ਚੀਫ ਮਿਨਿਸਟਰ ਸ੍ਰੀਮਤੀ ਸ਼ੀਲਾ ਦੀਖਸ਼ਿਤ ਤੇ ਸ੍ਰ. ਅਰਵਿੰਦਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਲਵਲੀ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਵੀ ਸ਼ਿਰਕਤ ਕੀਤੀ।

ਸਰਨਾ ਜੀ ਨੇ ਆਸ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ ਕੀਤੀ ਕਿ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦੇ ਬਾਕੀ ਮਸਲਿਆਂ ਤੇ ਨੇਕਨਿਯਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਫੈਸਲੇ ਲਿਤੇ ਗਏ ਹਨ । ਉਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਦਵਿੰਦਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਭੁੱਲਰ ਨੂੰ ਵੀ ਇਨਸਾਫ ਦਿੰਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਫਾਸੀ ਦੀ ਸਜਾ ਤੇ ਫੈਸਲਾ ਲਿਆ ਜਾਵੇਗਾ।

ਉਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਨੇ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦਾ ਕਾਲੀ ਸੂਚੀ ਵਿਚੋਂ ਨਾਮ ਹਟਵਾਉਣ ਲਈ ਸੋਨਿਯਾ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਸਹਿਯੋਗ ਲਈ ਧੰਨਵਾਦ ਕੀਤਾ ਤੇ ਆਸ ਪ੍ਰਗਟ ਕੀਤੀ ਕਿ ਆਨੰਦ ਮੈਰਿਜ ੲੈਕਟ ਤੇ ਅਫਗਾਨ ਤੋਂ ਆਏ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਦੀ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਨਾਗਰਿਕਤਾ ਲਈ ਫੈਸਲੇ ਜਲਦ ਹੀ ਲਿਤੇ ਜਾਣਗੇ।

Message from Sd. Paramjit Singh Sarna, President, DSGMC :

ਦਾਸ ਵਲੋਂ ਸਾਰੀਆਂ ਸੰਗਤਾਂ ਦਾ, ਸ਼ਾਮਿਲ ਹੋਈਆਂ ਜੱਥੇਬੰਦੀਆਂ ਦਾ, ਸਾਰੇ ਮੈਂਬਰ ਸਾਹਿਬਾਨ ਦਾ ਦਿੱਤੇ ਸਹਿਯੋਗ ਲਈ ਬਹੁਤ ਬਹੁਤ ਧੰਨਵਾਦ।

ਆਸ ਕਰਦੇ ਹਾਂ ਕਿ ਅਸੀਂ ਸਾਰੇ ਸਿਖਾਂ ਤੇ ਮਜਲੂਮਾਂ ਦੇ ਹੱਕ ਲਈ ਇੱਕ ਹੋਕੇ ਆਵਾਜ ਬੁਲੰਦ ਕਰਦੇ ਰਹਾਂਗੇ ।
...
ਦਵਿੰਦਰਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਭੁੱਲਰ ਨੂੰ ਇਨਸਾਫ ਮਿਲੇ, ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ ਅੱਗੇ ਇਹੀ ਅਰਦਾਸ ਹੈ ।

''Antim ardass'' of Badal''s wife held

Malout (Punjab), Jun 2 (PTI) Cutting across partylines, several leaders of political parties and religious organisations paid tributes to the deceased wife of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today. Surinder Kaur had died at PGIMER in Chandigarh on May 24 after a prolonged battle with cancer and was cremated at the CM's native Badal village the next day. An 'antim ardass' (ritual as per Sikh tradition) was held at the new grain market here. Prominent among those who attended were former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani, former BJP chief Rajnath Singh, Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and CPI national council member Joginder Dayal. All India Congress committee member Jagmeet Singh Brar, Former Haryana chief minister Om Parkash Chautala, former union minister Maneka Gandhi, former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Shanta Kumar were present on the occasion alongwith other cabinet and party colleagues of Badal.

with thanks : IBNLive : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Gurdwara attacked in Oz, Sikhs appeal for security

A gurdwara in the Australian state of Victoria has been vandalised in what is believed to be a "racial" attack, sparking fears among the minority community which has appealed for greater security for the Sikhs. Sikhs in Shepparton in northern Victoria have appealed to those who vandalised their gurdwara to leave them alone.

"Why they're doing it we don't know and we think there's a bit of racism - I'm not sure but (there) could be," a local Sikh Kuldeep Singh was quoted as saying by ABC News today.

Security has been stepped up around the gurdwara after recent vandalism attacks, including eggs being thrown at the building and a car smashing a fence around the structure, the report said.

with thanks : Hindustan Times : link above for detailed news.

SikhsIndia

Sheila, Sikh delegation meets Sonia

New Delhi, June 2 (PTI) Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and a delegation of Sikh leaders today met and thanked UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for the government's decision to remove names of 142 Sikhs from a blacklist.Dikshit, Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and hundreds of Sikh leaders representing various organisations met Gandhi at her residence and conveyed their gratitude for providing the "relief" to the NRI Sikhs."We expressed our gratitude to Soniaji for taking up the issue with the government," Lovely said.The Centre has deleted names of 142 NRI Sikhs from the black list after a detailed review while the exercise is still continuing in 27 other cases, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said yesterday.The NRI Sikhs whose names were mentioned in the black list are alleged to have been routinely denied travel permission to the country on grounds that they had taken part in anti-national activities during insurgency period in Punjab.

with thanks : IBNLive : link above for detailed news

Centre reviewing cases of 27 Sikhs still on immigration blacklist

NEW DELHI: The Centre is reviewing the background of 27 Sikhs (suspected former militants and their family members) living abroad who are still on the immigration 'blacklist' that bans their entry into India.

Union home minister P Chidambaram said on Wednesday that the Centre had last month deleted the names of 142 Sikh NRIs from the blacklist after a detailed review while the exercise was still continuing in 27 cases.

The home ministry had conducted a detailed review of the cases of 169 Sikh NRIs included in the blacklist but could not get "full information" about the activities of 27 individuals during last 15-20 years. Leaving these names in the list pending inquiry, the ministry had decided to remove the other names from the black-list.

with thanks : Times of India : link above for detailed news

SikhsIndia